Therapeutic drug monitoring of nivolumab in routine clinical practice. A pilot study.

Objective: A review of the literature about the anti-programmed death 1 monoclonal antibody nivolumab permits to verify the existence  of several issues still unresolved about their dosing schedule. The aim of the present work was to explore possibilities of nivolumab treatment  personalization through therapeutic drug monitoring, in order to  improve their effectiveness and efficiency.

Method: Observational, prospective study carried out from May 2017  through June 2019 in patients with different tumor diagnoses treated with nivolumab.

A simple flow-cytometry method to evaluate peripheral blood contamination of bone marrow aspirates.

Bone marrow (BM) aspirates used for flow-cytometry (FCM) studies are usually obtained from a second aspiration, as the primary aspirate is used for morphological assessment. For this reason, the FCM samples unavoidably contain some blood; although, good-quality samples contain only a small amount. It is of utmost importance to assess the quality of samples prior to FCM analysis; yet, contamination with peripheral blood (PB) is not evaluated in most laboratories, possibly because the methods available are either qualitative or too complex for daily practice.

Predictive value of the Luminex single antigen panel for detecting flow cytometry cross-match positivity.

Anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies are a major cause of allograft loss. Solid-phase immunoassays, notably Luminex technology, have lately begun to replace traditional techniques for detecting these antibodies. This platform, however, carries some restrictions in the type of antibodies it detects.